Competition for Elon Musk's Starlink is now rising globally as China state-supported SpaceSail and Amazon Project Kuiper hasten their satellite launching plans. Starlink may already have a monopolistic hold with approximately 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit. Its opponents, on the other hand, are boosting their global outreach and network of satellites.
SpaceSail, a China-based company supported by the Shanghai government, has stepped up its overseas expansion drive. In November 2024, it signed a deal to deliver satellite internet in Brazil. Since then, the company has initiated talks with more than 30 other nations. It also opened a shop in Kazakhstan in early 2025 as confirmed by the Kazakh embassy in Beijing.
SpaceSail plans to launch 648 LEO satellites in 2025, ultimately building a 15,000-satellite constellation by 2030. This would create Qianfan, or ‘Thousand Sails’, China's inaugural major move into global satellite broadband services.
China has ambitions that go beyond SpaceSail. The government plans to launch 43,000 LEO satellites in the next two decades. The aim is to position the nation as a dominant player in space-based internet infrastructure.
Amazon's Project Kuiper, supported by Jeff Bezos, is also a threat to Elon Musk’s Starlink dominance. The firm is going to launch 3,236 satellites, with initial models already in space and commercial offerings scheduled to become available by 2025. With Amazon's extensive infrastructure and capital support, Project Kuiper might emerge as a serious contender of the sector.
Since 2020, Starlink has put more LEO satellites into orbit than the combined total of all its rivals. The business offers high-speed internet to remote areas, maritime businesses, and military applications. It currently owns around 60% of the 7,500 satellites in orbit around Earth, giving it a dominant position in satellite communications.
The Musk-owned company plans to grow its constellation to 42,000 satellites by 2030. But with SpaceSail's ambitious growth and Amazon's Project Kuiper making its entry into the market, Starlink is now facing its largest competition to date.
As SpaceSail and Project Kuiper increase their launches, the world satellite internet market is entering a new era of competition. With Amazon and China investing heavily in LEO constellations, Starlink's dominance is no longer certain.
The battle for orbital real estate and worldwide internet coverage is heating up. The next few years will decide whether Musk, Bezos, or Beijing will be the leader in next-generation satellite communications.